In Sickness
by 9r7g5h
Summary: Xena never got sick, except when she did. Luckily, Gabrielle was there when she needed her.


**AN** : I'm getting a lost of fic requests over on Tumblr, and since I'm posting them as soon as they're done, I figured I'd go ahead and post them here too instead of following my normal posting schedule. It's all quit fun! :D So, you all go ahead and enjoy, and I'll get back to my normal schedule when I get there. Just so you know, the prompt for this one was "I need you though."

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Xena.

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Xena didn't get sick.

She felt sickness, from poison or bad food or when a wound she hadn't been able to tend to properly began to slightly fester, but years of living on the road, of constant dirty conditions surrounded by horses and men who hadn't bathed in almost a month had given her a great constitution. In small enough doses she could fight off the fairly common assassination attempts that had threatened her when she had been a warlord, usually with only a day or two of rest. Bad food passed, painfully but quickly. And so long as she packed the wound with herbs the first moment she could, cutting out the puss and dead flesh so what was healthy could heal without too much extra damage, she was fine.

Even as a child, Xena had never been sick, had never been able to use the colds and flus and fevers her brothers had so often claimed to get out of their chores or schooling. She just didn't get sick.

Only, if she said that now, Gabrielle would have just smoothed back her sweat wetted hair from her forehead to make room for the cooled cloth and reminded her that there was the first time for everything.

Neither of them was quite sure what was causing it, the fever that had her aching inside, her very bones quivering in a desperate attempt to get warm. Neither knew the source of the aching cough that had bruises spreading across her chest, that almost had her choking on her tongue when a fit went on for far too long. Neither of them knew why her stomach rejected everything and had for the last day and a half, food and water and simple broth alike ending up in a puddle by a nearby bush.

They had no idea what was causing it, and so could only treat it as best as they could.

Yarrow root tea for the heat, in the few sips she had been able to take, Gabrielle having found them by chance more then by skill in the first few minutes of them settling down the afternoon before, when this had all been just a series of aching muscles Xena had hoped a rest and a back rub would fix. Honey for her lungs, from the small supply they had bought at the last town as a treat, licked from her own lips and from the tips of Gabrielle's fingers when she was conscious enough to comply. Blueberries for her stomach, picked from a nearby bush just down the road from where they had been camped, a single spoonful of them mashed the most she could manage before her stomach began to turn.

All remedies she had see used time and again to cure those who were sick, ones she herself had used to help alleviate the suffering of her men and the villagers she had tended to since her turn from Ares' path, and all ones that were refusing to work now.

She knew Gabrielle was scared- she didn't say it, didn't voice her thoughts. All she did was gentle encourage Xena to drink and eat when she could, to try and keep it down, fix the tie that kept most of Xena's hair back and out of her face when the leather began to come loose. She tended the fire and Argo, went to the rive to refill their pot with cool water to wipe down Xena's burning limbs with, all the while muttering constant encouragements that things were going to be ok.

Xena never got sick, and even though there was a first time for everything, there was also a last time for everything, and this was sure to be the last time Xena got this sick. She would get better, and having been this ill before, would know what to do next time to fight it off before it go this bad.

And that was how Xena knew Gabrielle was scared. Because even though she was a dreamer, even though Gabrielle had her mind wrapped around stories more often then not, she only ever denied reality when she was terrified of it.

The great Warrior Princess, defeated not in battle, killed not in a sacrifice as she tried to save the innocent, but by some mysterious disease that left her weaker then a newborn babe.

She would have laughed, had it not hurt so much to do so.

"How are you feeling?" For a moment, a little bit of the tenseness she had been feeling lifted, her body automatically relaxing as Gabrielle returned to her side. She had left a while to go to the river, to catch some fish for herself and refill the pot was the icy water they were hoping would help her fever to break. How long she was gone, Xena wasn't sure- she wasn't even sure how long they had been there. It could have been a day and a half, it could have been weeks, she just wasn't sure.

But Gabrielle was back, and it was alright.

"You're looking better," Gabrielle continued. She didn't expect Xena to respond, never did when she spoke to her like this. It was for her own sake that she spoke, though Xena reveled in every word she heard. "Not as many new bruises today. And I haven't heard you cough in a while."

The light brush of a wet cloth over her bare chest, up her neck, across her cheeks and forehead and length of her nose, brushing away the sweat and leaving behind a blessedly cool trail, though it wouldn't stay that way for long. Soon it would heat up, the water sent boiling by her flaming skin, and Gabrielle would once again need to trace the path to bring her the relief she needed.

"Do you think you can drink your tea?"

Gabrielle hands were gentle as they slid under her shoulders, lifting her into a half sitting position with her head against her chest. Gentle but strong- to look at Gabrielle and see a weak young woman, to see someone frail and fragile, would be a mistake. She was young but strong, all of those years on a farm and all of their years spent traveling and training strengthening her beyond her looks. But still, she was ever so gentle in the was she cradled her, helping Xena lift her head so she could drink the cooled tea brought to her lips, pressing a kiss against her forehead when, after a few small sips, she turned her face away, burying it instead into Gabrielle's neck.

"You don't feel quite as hot as you did earlier," Gabrielle said, pulling back just enough so she could speak, though her lips still pressed against Xena's forehead. "Let's get you back down, alright?"

With anyone else, Xena would have been ashamed. Ashamed of her weakness, ashamed to have to be coddled and taken care of like a child, barely even strong enough to lift her own head or lay herself back down, needing Gabrielle's guiding hands to do it for her. With anyone else, she would railed against their help, turned them away, determined to take care of herself even if it killed her.

With Gabrielle, with Gabrielle her pride disappeared, following her every command without a single thought, almost whimpering when she was settled back onto the bedroll and Gabrielle had begun to move away.

She needed Gabrielle. Not just like this, when she was too weak to care for herself and needed someone to do it for her, but she just needed her.

"Gab…Gabri…" Her voice was too parched for her to speak properly, too sore from the coughing and the burning bile to speak louder than a whisper, but Gabrielle heard, or at least understood. Within a moment she was back, Xena's head lifted slightly so it rested in Gabrielle's lap, a newly wet cloth in hand to wipe away the sweat and grime from her face as she softly sang.

The words were slow and childlike, almost nonsensical in nature- a children's rhyme, the ones kids made up to sing during their little game. Something about a donkey and a cat, the very best of friends, who went out on their adventures and never came home again. Of kings and queens and jokers, who bowed before the pair, who took raised them up and took them in, entirely unaware. For though both of them were very fine, in their fur and adventuring gear, neither should have been made ruler, for they couldn't tell a boat from their rears.

Her smile was weak when she opened her eyes to look up at Gabrielle, amused by the cute little song, and Gabrielle's smile was that much brighter back to see her awake enough to respond, if only just physically.

"There you are," Gabrielle said softly, leaning down to place a kiss on Xena's forehead. "I was wondering when you would fully wake up."

Xena opened her mouth to speak, but Gabrielle quickly shook her head, the cloth that had been tracing the lines of her face moving to her throat. "You haven't been coughing in awhile, but it'll still hurt if you try. So don't speak. Just relax, okay, Xena?"

Xena just nodded and closed her eyes, listening as Gabrielle took up her singing once more.

"A rabbit and a fox, quite an unlikely set, tried to get to the castle, for the new kings they had once met…"


End file.
